Dossier No.33 – Aiports and their Challenges

Airports are essential infrastructures for the economic and social development of surrounding regions. They are forced to adapt constantly in order to meet the various challenges facing them, in particular regularly evolving security demands. They attempt to provide an optimal service to their different customers: passengers, whose numbers are increasing despite the crises, airlines with their changing needs and the different business installed on their complexes.

Each airport also seeks to meet environmental constraints and the demands of local residents.

To improve their services, airports rely at all times on enhanced collaboration between all players.

This dossier was drawn up following the international conference on “Airports and their Challenges” organised in late 2009 by the Air and Space Academy. It paints a broad portrait of the different demands put on airports, the services they provide and the main innovations expected.